Poison Garden. Healing or Deadly

https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/poisongarden26

The Story Behind the Exhibition

POISON GARDEN

Healing or Deadly

In January 2026, Artizan Collective in Torquay introduced a new format for its studio artists, giving each artist the opportunity to propose an idea for a future exhibition, with others free to join and develop the concept together.

I decided to initiate a project around the idea of a Poison Garden. The subtitle "Healing or Deadly" emerged during an early brainstorming conversation with Hannah Taylor ceramicist, who was the first artist to respond to the proposal. I shared my watercolours with her, and together we began exploring the images and associations suggested by the theme, as well as the possibilities of bringing different artistic practices — particularly watercolour and ceramics — into dialogue.

Hannah’s openness, curiosity and generosity with her time became an important part of those early stages. Our conversations gave the initial idea space to develop, and helped me see how the project might grow beyond my own artistic practice.

Bethan Foulkes then joined the project and became an important part of its further development, bringing her own perspective, time and creative energy to the evolving conversation. At a later stage, Wojciech Jaguzny, Grace Clifford, Fiona Campbell and Alexandra Robb joined us, each bringing their own artistic language and interpretation. Through paintings, ceramics, and printmaking, we explore plants as delicate forms, tactile objects, traces, and imprints.

I remained closely engaged throughout the process, communicating with each participant, sharing the initial ideas and exploring how their individual practices might enter into the project, while allowing space for their own interpretations and responses.

The overall concept and exhibition statement emerged through this dialogue, alongside the visual and spatial direction of the exhibition. I guided the development of the project and coordinated the installation of the works, while the gallery’s leaders, Julia Brandon and Jacob Brandon, accompanied the process throughout, offering thoughtful advice, practical support and generous guidance at each stage. With their support, and through the individual contributions of each participating artist, the exhibition gradually unfolded as a collective project, while maintaining a coherent conceptual thread.

TRANSPARENT SHADOWS

The subject of this exhibition is deeply personal to me. I continually return to plants, and I am particularly inspired by the rich heritage of Torquay and its connection with Agatha Christie, whose fascination with the properties of plants is well known.

What draws me to plants is their extraordinary and sometimes unsettling ambiguity. A plant can heal or harm, nourish or poison. Its qualities can depend upon who holds it and what their intentions are. This tension between beauty and danger, the familiar and the unknown, feels both timeless and remarkably relevant today.

Within this broader project, my own artistic contribution is a series of large-scale watercolours entitled

TRANSPARENT SHADOWS

Watercolour has become an essential part of my response to the theme. Its transparency and fluidity allow light and shadow to coexist, offering a particularly expressive way to explore what is visible and what remains hidden.

Transparent Shadows draws on the world of Agatha Christie without attempting to illustrate her stories. Instead, it responds to some of their deeper tensions: appearance and reality, innocence and concealment, life and death.

My exploration lies in that uncertain space between the flower and the poison — where nature, human intention and imagination meet.

What began as an individual artistic proposal gradually became a shared exhibition. Each participating artist brought their own material language, perspective and sensibility, allowing the original idea to expand beyond its starting point and become something richer and more unexpected.

I am deeply grateful to Julia Brandon for creating the opportunity for this new way of working, and to Julia and Jacob Brandon for their generosity, patience, advice and thoughtful support throughout every stage of the project.

I am especially grateful to Hannah, whose early commitment, generosity with her time and openness helped give the project its first sense of direction, and whose continued involvement and support remained important throughout the preparation of the exhibition. I am equally grateful to Bethany, whose generous engagement, time and creative energy helped carry the project forward. And to Grace, Wojciech, Alex and Fiona, thank you for joining the conversation and bringing your own voices, ideas and artistic languages to Poison Garden — Healing or Deadly?

For me, this exhibition is ultimately about what can emerge when an individual idea becomes a shared space for artistic exploration — and when something as familiar as a plant opens a door to questions of beauty, danger, memory, intention and the unknown.

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